“THE BAND”
By: Dennis Moore
This story is dedicated to the guys in the band: Bill, Jack, Greg, Ray, Mark, Denny, our Roadies and anyone who ever played in a band for fun, profit or comradeship.
Copyright 2021 Dennis Moore (the author). Posted to BEARC.org with permission
EARLY BAND YEARS
My first practice with “The Precisions” band was at Bill’s parent’s house, a small row-house in Overlea in 1970. Bill had got my name from Dennis Kasper, another (better) keyboard player at Archbishop Curley High School. The band had already been together for 4 years. I remember admiring a picture on the wall of the guys in blue sparkle tuxedos at one of our practices.
I wondered if I would be good enough. Bill played the tenor sax, Greg Miller the guitar and Jack Pahl (Bill’s cousin) the drums. Jack had replaced a previous drummer named Bob in 1968. Greg lived around the street from Bill. Jack lived back in the Parkville neighborhood with me. I don’t remember what songs we played during that first of many practices, but Bill later said I passed the “audition” and could fill in while Vince Luca, their previous keyboard (Cordavox Accordion) player was away on leave. Later I learned that my playing was far better than Vince who needed all the notes written down for each cord (versus knowing what a C Major, G minor, or D seventh was). Eventually when Vince returned Bill told him that he had been replaced which started the Precision band name war over who could use the name.
Vince said he had rights to our band name “Precision”, so we changed our name to “Precision II” which always led to question from people of how many people were in the band. Eventually Vince stopped playing music and we took back the original name “Precision”.
Practices alternated between Bill and Greg’s parent’s home during those early years. Most of the jobs were for the Clifton Pleasure Club, which Bill’s dad was a member, and we were the house band. There were also Greg’s shore parties which we played at in between swimming, boating, water skiing, crabbing, horseshoes, eating and drinking. Sometimes the instruments gave us shocks because we played outside on the back lawn. Greg’s parent’s favorite song was “Spanish Eyes”. It really didn’t seem to matter how good we were so long as we were not too loud and didn’t take too long breaks.
New Year’s Eve was the biggest band job of the year when all bands charged a lot more for a 9-2 gig (musicians called band jobs a “gig” back them). We played for the Clifton Pleasure Club many years, the last few under duress. Finally, we broke off our house band obligation and played the following New Year’s Eve at Towson Armory which was fantastic with such a younger crowd who had never heard our repertoire. We got many job referrals from Dennis Kasper and his band, the “Breakers” in these early years.
Our first sound system consisted of two red “Kustom” pleated PA columns with a 4-input amp. Bill played a Selmer tenor sax and Jack had a small Ludwig drum set. Greg played a Fender Jazz bass guitar and Gibson Les Paul electric guitar through a large Fender Bandmaster amp with eight 12inch speakers in two cabinets. I played a cheap Rheem keyboard eventually graduating to a more acceptable Farfisa keyboard using an off-brand amp with two 12inch speakers.
EARLY BAND YEARS
Tuxedos for band outfits were expensive and out-of-date so one of the first matching outfits we wore was a red shirt, blue slacks and a white tie. Because of those peculiar outfits, Greg would ask me to go into 7-11 before each job for his cigarettes. Jack was always losing his outfit and coming with some weird combinations of clothes to the jobs. Bill was the perfectionist as goes with his full-time job as salesman at Young’s Men’s Clothing store.
We traveled in individual cars meeting at Bills house prior to the job and following each other to the gig. Greg used his parents green Chevy station wagon and eventually got his own VW beetle. Bill drove his parents Rambler and eventually got his own Ford Fairmont. Jack drove his parents Chevy and eventually got a VW. I drove my parents white Chevy station wagon since my Ford Falcon would not fit all my equipment. We had some wild car rides after those jobs as you would expect being all pumped up from playing and drinking and having a good time. One time our 4 cars passed a police car on the beltway near Belair and Overlea Roads (they didn’t come after us).
In 1973, I left the band for what I thought were greener pastures. I felt the band was moving to slow and my talent was not challenged so I joined other bands called the “Bare Essentials” and “The Reactions”. They were good bands but had other problems like the time that the sax player walked off a pool diving board with his clothes and sax while we were playing at a pool party. The Precisions got a replacement for me, Leon who I understand wasn’t very good, so all members were glad when I return to the band in 1974.
MUSICAN PERSONALITIES
Anyone who has known a musician knows that they usually have a type A or “unique” personality. These personalities can eventually cause the band to eventually break up after a while. Our band lasted longer than most thanks to changes in leadership and taking time off from playing.
Bill was the first leader, always nervous and worried about all the members making it to the job on time and if all the equipment would work. Bill’s music was always a mess, most of it crumbled and carried in his sax case. But he memorized most of the songs and could always somehow find the ones he needed in a flash. He was a talented sax player and our best lead singer. He could feel out the crowd better than anyone else knowing just what tunes to play to keep the dance floor filled. Of course, we had to fill the dance floor first, always a problem with most bands finding the right song, tempo & volume to get those first brave dancers onto the floor. Some of the best sax solos I ever heard Bill play were in “Maneater” and “Satin Doll”. His best vocals always were in the higher ranges. Bill liked singing “There’s No Way” and an old “Elvis” medley.
Jack was also unique as most drummers are, easy going and girl crazy. It seemed like he met a different girl at every job to go out with later. Jack was exceptionally talented as a drummer, even when he may have had too many beers. He was always late and that got Bill nervous. Most of us would get to the job about an hour early to set up and make sure everything worked but not Jack who frequently arrived 10 minutes before with were supposed to start. One thing Jack could not do is sing. He had a microphone, but we always kept it turned down lower in the PA system. The only song that Jack sang solo on was “Be My Lover” by Alice Cooper. He had a great intro and ending for “Satin Doll” and frequently took off on solos like in “Taking Care of Business” that set the crowd wild.
I was an average musician needing to read the music for most of our songs. The guys would always get on my case for not being able to ad lib but whenever I tried it, the boo-boos would make them thankful I had the music in front of me. My memory was terrible, I even forgot where I filed some of the songs and the guys had to remind me. My alphabetical filing system was somewhat unique – filing songs like “Rock Around the Clock” under “F” for fifties along with all the other fifties music we did. I was an average singer, good on backup harmonies. Some of my favorite tunes were “Misty”, “Love the World Away”, “Hang on Sloopy” and “Louie Louie”. They say I had a great announcer voice, able to project it to the back of the room and change the tone of my voice to encourage people to listen.
Whenever I had to make announcements for birthdays, anniversaries etc. there was a 50-50 chance I would screw it up by reversing some of the letters or mispronouncing someone name. Some of the Polish and Jewish wedding party names were so tough I had to write them phonetically to remember how to say them. I also had trouble hearing (probably because I sat in front of Greg’s guitar amp) and could not see too well in the dark and smokey halls without my music light that was always too bright for the other guys.
Greg was a super guitar player but LOUD. In the middle of a soft song like “Misty” he would sometimes blare out a loud rift that turned people’s heads. Many times, he would start playing a few measures after we had started a song. He smoked like a chimney and frequently left burn marks my polyester jacket clothes as I sat directly in front of him because he looked off of my music. When his guitar was out of tune, he would occasionally tune up during a song. He would always lean his guitar up against his amp during breaks. During one band job (gig) the guitar fell on the floor and cracked the neck in half (his dad repaired it up with fiberglass). Greg’s microphone never worked right which was no wonder since he kept it squirreled up in the bottom of a brown bag that was thrown around. Greg’s favorite song was “Evil Ways” which he soloed on FOREVER and I could not wait for the song to end (again probably because I sat in front of his guitar amp).
Ray joined the band around 1986, a younger musician who played guitar, piano and synthesizer. He brought in lots of new songs. Some of his favorites were “Johnny Be Good” and “Hippy Hippy Shakes”. Ray was the easiest going member of the group, but something went amiss with Greg when Ray joined. Eventually Greg quit due to job pressures and not being able to make all of the jobs we wanted to play.
Mark replaced Jack as our drummer when Jack left town. He was our youngest member, always very professional, never drank on the job, taking his music seriously while also having fun.
I almost forgot our “roadies” Matt, Sean, Bruce and Mike. For $10 and all the beer they could drink, they would setup and take down all our equipment. They were party animals frequently winding up with items that belong in the hall.
I’ll never forget the job when Mike collected the votive candle lights from all the tables and tried to walk out of the hall with the candles still lit up in his arms. The hall manager stopped him and asked if we knew him (which we denied). Then there was the other job when Bruce won a 5th of whiskey which the roadies finished off and they could not carry a thing out to the cars including themselves. Somehow a full size, plastic palm tree ended up in Greg’s van that night with all the other band equipment. Prior to this, a beer battle took place on the side of the bandstand (behind a portable wall) with the roadies pouring beer on each other.
BAND LEADER
Every band needs a leader. Bill was our first, followed by Dennis then Ray. The leader checks with all members to see if they can make all job dates, sends contracts and collects money from each job splitting it up among the members. One job I remember, as the leader, getting paid $250 in quarters because the owner went home early and the only money they had was from the gambling wheels.
The leader usually announced anniversaries, weddings, birthdays etc. and makes up the song list for each set. The guys never agreed with the songs I selected. Guest would constantly come up while the band is playing and ask to speak to the leader to request special songs (which we usually did not know). For a typical 4-hour gig, there would be 4 sets of 13-14 songs with a 15-20-minute break between each set. The leader had to select and order the songs with a variety of tempos and styles. The goal was to keep the dance floor full while catering to the different age groups. If more guests danced to one type of song, we would play more of that type of song. Here is some typical music list in each set:
GOLDEN BAND YEARS
The golden band years from 1974 to 1985 were the height of our band’s greatness. We got so many calls for jobs we referred them to other less busy bands. By this time, we had gone through several band outfits most of them purchased from “True-Fit” on Eastern Avenue, a place where all the local bands went for band outfits.
The first outfit we purchased was a brown plaid double breasted suit with baggy pants, a cream tux shirt and an orange bow tie. The fact that we were musicians let us get away with wearing an outfit was so ugly in public. Next was a black double-breasted knit suit with a white tux shirt and black bow tie. It was a sharp outfit almost like a tuxedo and lasted through many rough jobs and many spills. And then there was the bright orange double breasted suit with red piping, a cream tux shirt and a brown bow tie – ugly! We also had a more casual bull roast outfit consisting of white slacks and a black/orange shiny polyester sports shirt with snaps for buttons.
Likewise, our musical equipment had grown. The PA system changed to two giant theater speakers that we covered in red fabric and weighed a ton each (thank goodness for the roadies). They we traded them in for Sunn PA cabinets with 2-12inch speakers each, Altec Lansing horns on top and a Peavey 600w amplifier. I built a light show featuring sound activated red, blue and yellow lights. My keyboard now consisted of a Hammond Porta-B organ and Leslie tone cabinet for that classic rotating organ sound. The 140lb tone cabinet had wheels and could be rolled. Moving the 180lb organ was tough since it had to be carried in a padded cover with two awful handles.
I also had a Fender piano for that classic electric piano sound. Sometime in our career, Greg switched from playing a Fender bass guitar to lead guitar and I took up the slack with a bass keyboard using my left hand. This way we didn’t have to split the job money with another separate bass player.
Greg used a Rickenbacker electric guitar that never stayed in tune that he finally traded it in for a Gibson Les Paul guitar. Bill played the same Selmer tenor sax and Jack expanded his Ludwig drum set with more cymbals and high hats.
By this time, we couldn’t fit all the equipment into our cars, so we used Greg’s red Chevy van until it wore out. Many jobs we would all ride together in the van on top of the equipment. Sometimes the van would start to shake violently whenever Greg hit a bump. Finally, I bought a 15 passenger Dodge van that had removable seats and could easily fit all our equipment.
When I took over as leader from Bill, practices took place in my parent’s home basement. The basement had several steps to go down an outside stairwell which we occasionally fell down very noisily after jobs. Returning from one job, Bill tripped carrying the drum box and fell down the steps crashing symbols and ripping his pants. My sleeping parents must have heard us but never mentioned it. Eventually practice moved on to my home, Greg’s home, Bill’s home, Jack’s grandfather home (which had a lot of junk TV) and some small home recording studio.
We played gigs once or twice every weekend with practices every Wednesday to learn the songs that bride wanted for first dances. Many of our jobs were at Martins Northpoint Gardens where we were the house band for Martins Catering Hall Managers Eve and Alex. Eventually the band took some time off from playing 2-3 times every weekend.
AGENCY BAND YEARS
When we finally got back together, it was tough for individual bands to get jobs on our own, so we joined the Timepiece Entertainment Agency in 1985. Renaldo, the agency manager, named all his agency bands with an “R” so we got the named “Reflex”. Ray had joined us as another guitar player for a different sound. We made a recording of some songs for the agency to let people hear us at their office.
One of the best jobs were played with the agency was a battle of the bands at the Forum in Reisterstown where we beat out all the other bands. That year we played 65 jobs earning over $2,400 each but the pace (3jobs/weekend) was too much so we quit the agency after 1 year. Also, the agency would book us for far away jobs instead of local gigs.
Another reason we quit was because Timepiece frequently booked us as another band with a girl singer. Since we were an all-guy band, people would always ask where the girl singer was. We asked Timepiece to book us less, but they refused.
We made a recording of several songs when we worked for the agency so people could hear what we sounded like before they booked us.
MEMORABLE BAND JOBS
Most band jobs fall into 3 categories: dull, average and great. Most wedding receptions were average since this is the first time for most of the people to be together and many want to talk instead of dance. It’s also hard to please a mixed crowd with older patrons who wanted waltz and polkas and younger kids who wanted loud hard rock music. You never know what to expect at a wedding. Sometimes all the people leave early while other times they pay you to play an extra hour or two. Occasionally a great wedding job would occur where people dance to everything and thank the band for their excellent music at the end of the night with applause.
Usually, the band has no place to sit during breaks and loiters in the hall or parking lot. The Catering Hall Master of Ceremony typically said the same things like “now the best man has a few word to say” “and “now for the first time in public, Mr. and Mrs.” and “goodnight, God bless and drive safely”. Wedding gigs normally included: wedding party introductions, prayer before meal, best man’s toast, first dance, bridal party dance, apron dance, bouquet & garter toss to eligible singles, winning singles put on garter, desert announcement, daddies little girl, last dance, closing congratulations, bright hall lights turn on for guests to go home.
Bull and Oyster Roast jobs are usually great! People come for eating, drinking, dancing and partying in mind. Food + Beer + Music = fun! Dances are usually average to great jobs depending on the age of the crowd. The most fun part for our band was playing newer rock and roll music for the younger crowds.
In 1984 we played a New Year’s Eve job for Alcoholics Anonymous. We hadn’t played New Years for a while and this was the only offer we got. We wondered how much fun a group could be who didn’t drink but they surprised us. They were all up dancing for the first tune and the rest of the night! They paid us to play an extra hour and nobody left until 2am. The hall was stocked with plenty of food and coffee. We took our breaks outside to sneak a few beers.
The last job of our golden band years was played at Martins West. We were one of Martins catering house bands and were booked with another band so continuous music was provided when either band was on break. This was one of the few New Year’s Eves that we got to dance with our wives and girlfriends. We never sounded better.
One of the furthest jobs we played was at the Easton Elks club on the Eastern shore. We all drove down in Greg’s Chevy van riding on top of the equipment which was piled up high.
Another memorable job was the wedding reception we played at the Dutch Mill Lounge on Harford Road. This was a biker’s bar, kind of rough. Jack was arrested for smoking out on the parking lot and we played the last set without a drummer. Greg got upset at someone bumping into his amp on the stage and started a fight with 6 guys out on the parking lot after the job.
Friendly Farms wedding receptions always had great food since they were a smorgasbord restaurant. I remember when we asked a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary what song they would like to dance to, and they replied instead of “Anniversary Waltz” play “Please Release Me” (ha ha ha). Another time the band was playing Glen Miller’s “In the Mood” and during a stop, Bill’s sax hits a sour note and he said, “oh shit” in the microphone so we changed the song’s name to “Oh Shit”. We also played for bar mitzvahs at the Columbia Hilton and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
We were a Martins Catering house band mostly at Martins Northpoint Gardens, playing there about 3 times a month for weddings and bull roasts. We also played at Martins Eastwind, Westminster, West and Eudowood
The largest crowd we ever played for was at Teamsters Hall. There must have been 1,000 people there and we could crank up our amps with no complaints. After the job, I accidently threw jacks drum seat to Bill cutting his nose open and Bill dropped the drum case down my parent’s basement steps ripping his pants and waking up the neighborhood.
Poe’s Pub were fun jobs where we split the bar take with the owner. It was a tiny row-house bar and the crowd came mostly after ball games. Down the street was a black gay bar whose patrons frequently came to Poe’s Pub enjoyed our music
OTHER BAND JOBS NEW YEARS EVES JOBS
– Libertini’s Parkville Gardens Martins Eudowood
– Otterpoint Yacht Club Clifton Pleasure Club
– Harford Park Community Center Towson Armory
– Annapolis Elks Alcoholics Anonymous
– Towson Elks Towson Armory (1975)
– Knights of Columbus Hall on Belair Rd Martins Northpoint (1976)
– Snider Willow Grove Alcohols Anonymous (1984)
– St Elizabeth School Dance for special kids St Isaac Jogues (1980)
– Rosedale VFW Martins West (1985)
– Arbutus Social club OTHER BAND JOBS
– American legion Post 130 Perry Hall Idlewyle Hall
– Sultanas of Alcala – Cockeysville VFW Omni Hotel
– Overlea Hall & Overlea North Hunt Valley Marriott
– Gardenville Moose – Warwick Hall Engineering Society
– Rivera Beach Firehall Knights of Columbus in Parkville
– Hidden Clearing Block party (1985, 1986) Annapolis Elks
– Belair Mansion Herford Volunteer Fire Hall
– Turf Valley Country Club Frederick Elks
– Towson State – Turners Hall Sparrows Point Country Club
– Kingsville Volunteer Fire Dept. Rosedale Gardens Bowling
– Tall Cedars Northpoint Gardens
Pictured below the band playing at a Block Party on Hidden Clearing in Columbia in 1985+1991
EPILOGUE
The band business slowed considerably after we left the agency. In 1986 we had 15 jobs, 1987 we had 16 jobs, 1988 we had 5 jobs and 1989 just 4 jobs. In 1987 Jack quit the band to continue his Duron Paint career in North Carolina. George filled in until Mark joined the group in 1988. There was a fatal attempt to combine Precision with another classic rock group, Kuda. The band business was not the same with most jobs are handled by disk jockeys. They charged a lot less than bands ((only need to pay for 1 person) and played whatever individuals requested (from records on-hand so no need to learn new songs.
We practiced at Mark’s house for a while. We traveled to jobs in our individual cars since our equipment had been downsized considerably. After our Sunn lifetime guaranteed PA amp was repaired for the third time, we started using a third party for sound who we hired as needed.
I do not know when but, as with most part-time bands, we finally broke up. Reasons may have been increasing family obligations, full time career demands, desires to pursue other interest or just tired of doing it.
The Precisions band stayed together 25 years (longer than most local part-time bands) from 1966 (4 years before I joined) to 1991. I am so grateful for the experience and hope the other band members feel the same way as I do. Playing music in a group (versus solo) was so much more enjoyable for me (and covered up any mistakes I made). Here are some more photos.
UPDATE…
On October 9, 2021 three of the original band members (Jack drums, Bill sax, Denny keyboard) got together to entertain some campers for an Oktoberfest celebration at Woodlands Camping Resort, 265 Starkey Lane in Elkton, Md. Local residents Stanley Haley and Tom joined us on guitars. We played two 45-minute sets with a bluegrass group playing between our sets. There was an outdoor wooden stage called Pickers where we setup. Campers gathered around the stage on golf carts and some chairs. Here is the music we practiced and used for the 2 sets. It was a really fun time.
